Wednesday, December 30, 2009

I've *finally* tallied all the entries (and there were nearly 700 of 'em). Using a random number generator, I came up with the top five winners (yep, you heard right, I decided to choose ONE Grand Prize and FOUR swag pack winners). My contest, my rules, people!

So here we go:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER, who gets the signed ARC, a $25 gift card to the online bookseller of their choosing, and the swag pack is...

******Kapri******

YAY! *confetti* *streamers* *balloons*

Congratulations, Kapri!

Next up, we have the winners of the swag packs, which are pretty darn cool, if I do say so myself! (And I totally do)...

******Aik******

******Stacey (of Page Turners)******

******Jill of the OWL******

******Bethany******

Congratulations, all, I'm emailing you now!

And thanks to everyone who entered, I had so much fun with this contest...so much fun, in fact, that I'm definitely doing it again!!!!

Stay tuned, because in the next few weeks, there will be a new announcement, new ways to earn points, another ARC up for grabs, swag, and a whole lotta fun!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Okay, so the contest deadline was yesterday...thank you all SO MUCH for entering!!!!

We had 153 entrants (and I don't even know how many actual entries), but over the next couple of days I will get them all tallied and entered into the random number generator, and will post winners just as soon as possible.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

You know how there's always that one neighborhood that goes *overboard* with the Christmas lights?

Well, yeah, that's *my* neighborhood. It's kind of like watching that scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (the one with Chevy Chase) where he finally gets his Christmas lights on and it blinds the neighbors. It's like daylight 24/7 around here.

You can guess, traffic gets a little backed up sometimes...there are times I have to wait in line just to get in my own driveway.

I thought I'd give you a glimpse of just *one side* of the street we live on. It's impossible to give you the *full* effect (I wish I could have gotten both sides in the shot!), but it's really kind of spectacular considering that everyone participates.Disclaimer: Not responsible for motion sickness caused by my incredibly professional camera work.

Oh, and one of our neighbors has a sign that tells you what radio station to tune to and his lights flash to the music (try to ignore my daughter's chattering from the backseat!):

Friday, December 11, 2009

What? You’ve never heard of Agent Day??? That’s because it’s made up and brand new, the brainchild of fellow Tenner, and 18 year old wunderkind, Kody Keplinger. (To see the entire list of who’s participating in Agent Day, check out this kickass list over at Lisa and Laura’s place!)

Okay, so here’s the deal…

Writers need agents. I’ve talked about this before, you know how I feel. And Kody has decided there should be a day in which we thank those agents who tirelessly represent us.

And today is that day!!!

But instead of going on and on about all the cool things my agent has done for me (which she totally has!), I’m gonna tell you about something else she’s done.

That’s right! Not only is she an agent, she’s an author as well! And not only is Buying, Training, and Caring for Your Dinosaur a really great picture book…it’s a really great Christmas present for those kids on your Christmas list!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Nope, not till Christmas! We are now only ONE HUNDRED DAYS until The Body Finder hits shelves, and guess what??? I’ve got a widget (check out my sidebar)!

Not only do I have a widget, but in honor of the big countdown, I’ve decided to hold my very first official contest!!!!

And there are prizes…look at all the pretty prizes…

Oooh…aahh…

That’s right, you too can have your very own signed copy of The Body Finder, along with this lovely limited edition tote bag, and an assortment of bookmarks and stickers. All that, and…a $25 gift certificate to the online bookseller of your choice! But it doesn’t end there, check out this sweet Body Finder poster (because you get that too!):

Second and third place winners will get all the swag (minus the ARC and the gift certificate)!!!I kid you not!

And it’s easy to enter. But there are many ways to earn bonus points, so check it out:

1) Earn one point just for being a follower and commenting in this post. Easy, right?!? (New followers welcome!!!!)

2) Earn one extra point for Re-Tweeting/Facebooking (or any other status updating) the contest (but, again, you have to let me know here, so I know to count your point!).

3) Earn one point for posting about the contest in your sidebar, and yet another for an entire post *about* the contest. That’s two extra points if you play your cards right! (And let me repeat…you must let me know that you’ve done these things, otherwise I won’t know to add your extra entries. That’s just how I roll.)

And that’s not all…because if you act now, there’s one more way to earn bonus entries!!! This is the exciting part! Can you *feel* the excitement???4) You can earn five extra points just for posting The Body Finder widget on your blog/website/My Space/Facebook/whatever! Five. Extra. Points!!! (And not to beat a dead horse, because I’d *never* do that…but please, for the love of everything that is good and holy, let me know so I can count those points too!) Note: Simply click the "share" button on the widget in my sidebar to copy the code...if you have trouble, email me and I'll send you the code!!!

It’s just that easy. Contest runs through December 25th, so get your entries together and spread the word. And the widget!

Oh, and leave me your email so I can get in touch if you win…that’s kind of important…

And get excited, people!

NOTE: I was just asked the question, so I thought I'd post my response here so everyone knows...Yes, international entries are welcome!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

A great big HUGE congrats to Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl today! Not only did BEAUTIFUL CREATURES make its debut, but this awesome duo just announced that the first of their FIVE-BOOK-SERIES will soon be hitting the big screen as well. (Check out this killer article in Variety!)And look at that cover…truly one of the year’s best…

Oh, and don't forget that trailer (as mentioned in the Variety article):

Maybe, just maybe, the director of the Beautiful Creatures trailer has a little something planned for The Body Finder.

Every time I read the synopsis for Kristina Springer’s THE ESPRESSOLOGIST I want to just curl up with a hot drink by the fire.

See what I mean?

What’s your drink of choice? Is it a small pumpkin spice latte? Then you’re lots of fun and a bit sassy. Or a medium americano? You prefer simplicity in life. Or perhaps it’s a small decaf soy sugar-free hazelnut caffe latte? Some might call you a yuppie. Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it’s not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their coffee orders. Like her best friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte. But when her boss, Derek, gets wind of Jane’s Espressology, he makes it an in-store holiday promotion, promising customers their perfect matches for the price of their favorite coffee. Things are going better than Derek could ever have hoped, so why is Jane so freaked out? Does it have anything to do with Em dating Cam? She’s the one who set them up! She should be happy for them, right?

Today, we have Kristina here to answer some questions and tell us about herself.

And, go:

1) Would you rather be the Bestselling Rockstar Author or an Acclaimed Literary Award Winner?

Bestselling Rockstar Author

2) Make people laugh, cry, or hide under the covers?

Laugh

3) Retire early or just keep writing from your beach house(s)?

Write from beach house.

4) FaceBook or MySpace?

Facebook

5) After a period, one space or two?

One

And your bonus question: What ONE WORD of advice would give to any aspiring writer?

Persevere

Kristina Springer has a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from Illinois State University and a Master of Arts in Writing from DePaul University. Her first novel, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, was published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux on October 27, 2009. Her second novel, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS, also from FSG, will be published in the fall of 2010. She lives in a suburb of Chicago, IL with her husband Athens and their four small children Teegan, Maya, London, and Gavin.